Donor Services Group Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Donor Services Group full-time for more than a year

Pros – Some of the best people you will ever meet work here. The schedule is flexible and so attracts a lot of creative people. The health plan is very good.

Cons – The compensation is shamefully poor/inappropriate given the stressful nature of the job. The burnout rate is extraordinarily high. The owner appears to lack compassion toward the employees.
The bonus structure is convoluted and doesn't inspire a desire to perform to a level of excellence.

Advice to Senior Management – If you want the company to thrive, treat your employees with respect.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Donor Services Group full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Certain flexibility in scheduling, parking for a fee, super nice janitorial crew, can knit on the job, many good co-workers, decent carpeting, great taco truck stationed outside at lunch break, new paper towels in the 3-seater ladies room - and that's stretching it.

Cons – I was hired into DSG’s top-tier Coop division in Sherman Oaks. Fresh out of divorce and rudderless, I was grateful for the opportunity to “Do Something Good” (although that motto had not yet been created) – which was raising money for worthy progressive and environmental organizations through involved, cultivational calls regulated by a manual one-call-at-a-time dialer. There were petty dictator issues back then too, but fast forward 9 years later to the Hollywood version of DSG, an everyone-under-one-roof consolidation, and the working conditions must be comparable to those at Foxconn in China.

These days we are calling people who gave $10 +/- a month ago with no recollection of having done so. Some because they get hundreds of mail and phone requests each month and can’t keep them straight, others with the added problem of being at the stage in life when they can’t remember their name, bless their hearts. Over and over again with no break between calls (as we now use a boiler room style auto-dialer), we are required to ask these struggling seniors for $30 a month, and if that results in a No, then we must push them for $15, then badger them for $10 or $5. Oh, and we must get this on a credit card too, of course.

This "ask level" sequence is referred to as “investing in the process” – an admonition we get every day, several times a day, day in and day out, from our Call Center Director in the same, repetitive, chastising, condescending monotone. And if he doesn’t deliver that message, his Floor Supervisor – who comes off as a Stand-Up wannabe – plays the role of patronizing game show host. Management is most often disingenuous, mocking and disrespectful in the extreme.

We are treated with contempt and given convoluted answers to straightforward questions, all the while being expected to do the impossible with an angry, frustrated, harassed donor base. We are bamboozled by each new, revised and rejiggered Bonus Structure and Pay scheme that the Owner comes up with. And because they do everything they can to pack the place with callers, there are too many people for the narrow aisles in the building, resulting in near claustrophobia when attempting to exit for a scant 10 minute break or 30 minute lunch. Smokers are favored over non-smokers at the company, which infuriates those of us who care about our health.

Time clock lines are long and poorly managed, like everything else at DSG. Rules are arbitrary and punitive, and most days managers sit on their collective duffs, hanging around the operations desk, laughing and joking and doing nothing to really help us callers fulfill the high production demands they impose on us.

So why am I still there? As a senior citizen myself, my options are limited in this economy. I did recently take on a second job, cutting my DSG hours a bit in order to do so. This little office job pays less than minimum wage, but the perks are fabulous. What are the perks, you ask? Well, respect for one, and kindness for another. Well worth the 60% cut in pay, I say. But as burned out as I am, I may have to hang in with Donor Services Group until I'm in the ground, which if this stress continues, may be sooner than I would like.

Advice to Senior Management – Turn the asylum over to the inmates.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Donor Services Group full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – hours are flexible and the materials are interesting

Cons – although it has to be done, calling people at home during dinner. It's hard not to since the dinner hour is between 4 and 9pm

Advice to Senior Management – pay management more....they'll work harder

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Donor Services Group part-time for less than a year

Pros – Its a very nice area to work in. The trainers are very friendly. Its a nice building.

Cons – It is hard to get the sales you need. Its pretty hard when you keep getting no's.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Donor Services Group

Pros – 1.) Atmosphere: You're in the heart of Hollywood and surronded by highly creative and energetic personalties (The people you meet really make this place special!)
2.) Benefits: Health, Vision, Dental, and an 85% discounted metro tap pass

Cons – 1.) Turn Over: Can be seen as a transitory position. No one dreams of growing up and becoming a fundriaiser
2.) Pay: Not a lot of money for the struggles that go with being on the phones

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Donor Services Group

Pros – -Flexible schedule
-managers are nice and open to talk to you
-cool office located in hollywood, central location, close to alot of restaurants and major landmarks.
-part time full time shifts available
-meet all types of people, actors, musicians, college students, professionals looking for a new career, deadbeats, retired people, weirdos.
-always hiring always hiring!!!!!! means= always firing! always firing! lol

Cons – -HIGH HIGH HIGH TURN OVER, i worked there over a month, i started with a training class of 30 people, i only saw 6 left.
- they dont care, they can hire new fresh people anytime anyday, they always have new hiring classes and they can let you go anytime they like.
- you can get fired anytime, esp if you are not performing well enough. there is no heads up or 2nd chances, so expect this!!! they have the high turn over rate i ever seen!!!

Advice to Senior Management – learn to retain your employees... dont let them go that fast.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Donor Services Group

Pros – Friendly culture, flexible scheduling, inexpensive on-site parking lot, proximity to public transportation with transportation passes at cut-rates as an employee benefit. Supervisors are respectful.

Cons – Training pay is $10/hour for 4 weeks, then drops to 8.50 an hour plus bonuses based on performance. It takes some perseverance to develop the skills to close enough pledges to get your hourly rate back up to $10+ an hour. Sitting at the computer for hours on end during slow times when people don't answer their phones. High turnover due to stress from hostile people answering the phone and/or performance below standards. Sometimes 'acceptable performance' is not well communicated at the beginning and new people are abruptly asked to leave, without much of a 'heads up' that hey aren't doing well enough.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Donor Services Group

Pros – If you want a 10-10.50/hr paycheck then definitely work at the Pittsburgh branch. However, the hours are not flexible (despite claims on ads and websites), and they speciously do not let you know when your pay raise from 10/hr to 10.50/hr occurs. Your bonuses don't kick in until after two months.

Cons – When I worked for the pittsburgh branch, they lied to me about when my bonuses and pay raise would kick in. The managers there were really harsh, with one yelling and berating employees, on and off of the phones. The hours are long, and there is little leeway to change your schedule/leave because of exhaustion and/or emergencies. Very little is explained about the actual job, more about the non-profits you are calling for.

Advice to Senior Management – Be more transparent and up front with hours you want worked and the pay rate. This branch has an extremely high turnover rate because of its hours, so I suggest breaking up the hours into 4-hr calling blocks, and allow people to work part time with the option of going full time--you're losing money because you are calling so much. And train your managers/supervisors to be more professional when people are on the phones and with employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Donor Services Group

Pros – Great team. Great cause. Cool office building. Cool atmosphere. It's exciting to wake up each day knowing you will make a difference in the world. Although the work at Donor Services Group is oftentimes difficult and most likely not for everyone, I am filled with integrity and quite proud to be on the frontlines of the fight for good in this world.

Cons – The job can be quite difficult at times. Fundraising is hard work. And it can be discouraging to hear so many "no"s from donors. But, the conversations I have with caring, thoughtful people constantly makes up for any negativity of the job.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Donor Services Group

Pros – There are none other than if you want to be cheated out of your hourly rate, not given a fair break time or lunch half hour.

Cons – They don't pay a fair wage hourly and cheat you out of commissions. Los Angeles based callers are always being shorted on pay. They are highly abusive in their method of dealing with callers. The Los Angeles callers are competing with Manilla, Philipines and if they don't bring in as monay donations as the Philipines that caller is fired with no chance of unemployment benifits.

Advice to Senior Management – Learn how to follow California Labor Laws. Pay fair hourly wage, pay accurate hourly wage, stop fighting unemployment when worker can not compete with Philipine callers, create a more pleasant work enviroment and be more tolerant of staff.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend